Jay Harvey Upstage

 George Bernard Shaw, one of a small handful of readable music critics of stature, once called  Mendelssohn's Symphony no. 3 in A minor "a work which would be great if it were not so confoundedly genteel."  A champion of blood-and-thunder Verdi and the spiritually titanic Wagner, Shaw maybe made such an assessment on the basis of undernourished performances he'd heard of the work nicknamed "Scottish" or "Scotch." The latter word is no longer applied respectably to anything much besides the venerated distilled whiskey from Scotland. In an essay on the composition, the beverage's distinctive flavor encouraged Michael Steinberg, one of the commentators on the "Scottish" symphony, to describe the dark coloration of its first movement as "peaty."  James Ehnes always makes a strong impression here.  Water over the region's peat beds lends the beverage its character — and by extension the kind of orchestration with which the ...

Walking into a packed Jazz Kitchen on a Sunday afternoon to hear a couple of string quartets, I can't Gary Walters and Peter Hansen had a matinee showcase. avoid recalling the old Monty Python introduction: "And now for something completely different." So it was, although the featured composers— Gary Walters and Peter Hansen — have distinguished records as creative and performing artists there, notably together in the early part of the century as members of the Icarus Ensemble. Formerly a contrabass player in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Hansen invited four current members to perform his String Quartet No. 1 in E and Walters' "Bluesberry Jam." Besides its interlocking, punning title, Walters' piece, enjoying its first public performance, showed his high comfort level across several genres. Retired from the jazz faculty of Butler University, Walters keeps his composing and playing schedule judiciously crowded. "Bluesberry Jam," a de...

Programming concerts involves giving shape to a season, not just to individual concerts. As  music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for the past 17 months, Jun M ä rkl has displayed both kinds of skill. He is advancing the orchestra as well as its Classical Series patronage. In his current spate of Hilbert Circle Theatre podium appearances, he is exploring thematic compatibility as well as idealism, technical polish and expressive breadth. Next week he and the orchestra will take us to the Scottish Highlands; other kinds of summitry have been on view this weekend and last. The extraordinary demands of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony gave an extra wow to Valentine's weekend. How do you avoid a feeling of letdown after that? He couldn't have done better than doubling down on Mahler's identity as "the song-symphonist" with songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn , then crowning that exploration with a Beethoven milestone, Symphony No. 3 in E-...

  Sirena Huang and Drew Petersen play Gabriela Lena Frank.  Drew Petersen and Sirena Huang made sure the rare opportunity for a musical reunion would be readily appreciated by a near-capacity audience Thursday evening at Indiana Landmarks Center. The pianist and the violinist, well-acquainted since they were students at the Juilliard School, opened their joint recital with a work they had studied at the New York City institution together: Beethoven's Violin Sonata no. 5 in F, op. 24 ("Spring").  The arrangement by which they could perform as a duo as young professionals was engineered by the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the American Piano Awards . Each organization holds their achievement at the highest level as competition winners in 2017 (Petersen) and 2022 (Huang). Apart from the Beethoven work and their encore (Sarasate's "Zapateado"), the national significance of 2026 strongly suggested their program have an American cast. And s...

 Can you overdo it with a piece that challenges you to cheer and cry at the same time?  Music-lovers have Gustav Mahler at 5, wondering if life is worth it.  to answer that question for themselves, but the concert experience of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in D minor ("Resurrection") for me works out best with years in between in-person iterations.  My first exposure to joining a big crowd for such a performance was in May 1987, when John Nelson capped off his 11-year tenure as Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra music director with an interpretation that explictly spoke to his  religious orientation: "The sentiments that are in the text are my sentiments," he told the Circle Theatre audience. Certainly the second time I heard "Resurrection" almost effected a match between my sentiments and those of the texts the composer chose — from the folk poetry of Des Knaben Wunderhorn and "Resurrection," an ode by Friedrich Klopstock — plus a huge sup...

Julie Russel aloft in the propulsive "Takbuhan."  Dance Kaleidoscope premieres occupy most of the expanse of NOW, Vol. 2 "Arresting Momentum," which opened Friday night before an adoring crowd. The program was introduced by the welcome retrurn of "Restless Ordinary," a piece by Autumn Eckman which debuted last May .  DK's occasional performances in the Tobias Theater at Newfields  always carry a sense of occasion. There's a feeling of maximum wingspread when the company plays there. Upstage and downstage convey a vast perspective.  At the start, the steady front-to-back lineup of the company, with straight arms raising in varied rhythm, conveyed the mastery of space that was to be elaborated across the five works, with movement edge-to-edge as well, like abstract expressionism in painting. The bid for a DK seat at the big table nationally was the staging for DK of "Train" by Robert Battle , Illustrating the title: A "Train" scen...

 The lineup for Tuesday's show at the Jazz Kitchen looked so good it would have been tempting to go even if the event had been designed as a tribute to — oh, say, Guy Lombardo. But of course, the honor was more pertinently accorded Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz drumming. And it was under the direction of one of the reigning masters of the kit in central Indiana: Cassius Goens III. In a rare outing as a bandleader, he had put together a quintet comprising the collegial spirits of Christopher Pitts, Brandon Meeks, Jared Thompson, and Marlin McKay. For several numbers to acknowledge the importance of Abbey Lincoln in Roach's long career, vocalist Akili Ni Mali joined the band onstage. Goens spoke effusively of the role model that Roach (1924-2007) has been for him. It didn't take long to sense the affinity. Sensitivity to tone color and interlocking rhythmic patterns was notable in "Joy Spring," for example. A classic from the pen of Roach's early partne...

  Brad Hughley, St. Paul's organist and director of music. One of the revelatory expressions of faith in the New Testament proclaims the prophetic joy of a blind man in his encounter with the baby Jesus. This provided the theme of a concert at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Sunday afternoon focused on two cantatas by J.S. Bach, presented by St. Paul's Music.  The concert title of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra 's program, "Incomprehensible Light," translates a German phrase from a duet in the more elaborate of them, "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin" (BWV 125). In Luke's gospel,  Simeon testifies to his readiness to die  as the promise of salvation includes the clarified eyesight that his earthly life has thus far denied him. The opening chorus of BWV 125 traces Simeon's brief hymn of praise. The performing forces of the IBO orchestra, five women from St. Paul's Choir, and three male soloists were under the direction of Brad Hughley. T...

Seth Holly lets wife and residents know the way things should be. The complex verbal music and dark urban rhapsodies of August Wilson carry a variety of appeal to theater companies that can draw upon African-American talent as well as educate and entertain audiences across the racial spectrum, provoking their sense of wonder and highlighting historical truth. Summed up in the ten plays of the Pittsburgh Cycle, the native son's placing each work in a decade of the 20th century gave an evolving focus to his art, as well as a location he knew intimately: the Steel City's Hill District.  Indiana Repertory Theatre opened a new production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" this week, to be shared next month with Syracuse Stage. Along with the Phoenix Theatre, the IRT has a long history with August Wilson shows. In Friday's  performance, the strengths and challenges of Wilson's style — verbally flamboyant and thematically spread over a wide swath of Black American...